It is possible to create a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network where certain base stations are backhauled using a mesh network, such as a wireless, Wi-Fi or LTE-based backhaul connection. Depending on usage by mobile subscribers, the number of base stations being backhauled, available bandwidth, applications running, traffic activity on various user equipment devices, severe traffic or bad radio connections, congestion may occur at one or more mesh network links or backhaul links. Congestion may of course adversely impact network operations and providing reasonable service.
The radio access network generally has traffic of different kinds, such as wired or wireless internet traffic, 3G/4G Voice/Data, signaling traffic such as S1, X2, Iu, radio access bearer assignment, operations administrations and management, etc.; and each type of traffic has its own mechanism to indicate priority of the message. The traffic is generally transported over private virtual private network tunnels, e.g. using IPSec, and are therefore encrypted and encapsulated. This may make it more difficult to prioritize packet flows during routing, as the nodes along the route are not able to determine the category of the particular message and route based on the priority assigned by the source node in the event of congestion.
A solution is therefore needed for prioritizing messages of different categories based on a single identification mechanism. The solution is needed to maintain the original priority information assigned by one or more source nodes where the messages first originated, and to enable various nodes to route the message according to the original priority without de-encapsulation or de-encryption.